"Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself."- John Dewey.
From the job market to tertiary education, from UPSR to A-Levels, Education in Malaysia focuses on bringing you the latest news and analysis on our nation's best bet on the future.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Our Varsities: Good, Bad & Ugly

I'm not going to copy and paste the entire article here. But I thought its worth highlighting that one of our resident commentator on this blog, Shawn Tan has put together a group of young Malaysians at Cambridge University to discuss burning issues, the first being the state of our universities published in Malaysiakini.

It's unapologetic, it's critical but it's not new. The fact that the points raised aren't new isn't a criticism of the article but that of our Ministry and Government for they have not addressed these issues with the necessary determination and political will despite these problems having been raised many times over the last decade or more.

USM in top 100, 50 in the world. Do these people realize how many unis are there in China, India and Russia fighting to get in those ranks not to mention the many more emerging countries of Eastern Europe and Latin America. Even Middle East getting in on the act. I frankly don't know if NUS can even stay in the top 50 in the long run..

If they don't fall further under the current plan, they are already lucky.

I am currently studying in local uni and i just don't feel proud of studying in it. I blame myself for not taking the effort of applying scholarship ( as i really hate/lazy in doing all those stuff ). Therefore, i am stuck in local uni. I really do hope that there are anyone out there to convince me that, it is not so bad after all in local uni-- I had bad english, bad skills, etc etc.. Well, i score 4.0 in stpm and i just didn't feel that i am in par with any other excellence student. I envy people that are able to study abroad through scholarship or those who afford to do so.!. PErhaps i really do not apreciate what i have now!. Can anyone tell me the good of being locally made product when i myself could not convince myself about it?? Seem like i am commenting something that was not related to the post. So sorry, just too -- frustrated!

You can throw as much money as you can to USM but it will not work. You have mediocre professors that do mediocre research publishing in mediocre journals if at all. M of Ed has no idea of what a first class univerity is -- ITS MORE THAN MONEY!!! Just look at how Singapore does it. Bodoh.

thanks for the plug.. i have to say that i cannot take the whole credit for doing it as it was a collaborative effort from several people.. even the article was collaboratively written.. i just fueled the group with a hot frothy cup of teh tarik..

@vulnerable: there is no need to feel "inferior" to a foreign graduate.. an important hallmark of a good graduate is his/her ability to act independently.. you can be independent anywhere in the world.. so, if you put your heart into it, you can become as good as, if not better than, any foreign graduate..

while some employers hire people with nice degrees, others value skills and abilities more.. so, you can land a job in pretty much any country in the world, if you have the right skillset.. i have many friends from local uni who are now working with major organisations around the world.. so, do not be frustrated and do not give up..

direct your frustration into making yourself a better graduate than anyone else, local or foreign..

Besides not feeling inferior, one should also be proactive in bringing changes in Malaysia especially by promoting unity in local universities. Local undergraduates have one advantage, you don't have to make your own tehtarik! Mamak stall is everywhere!

Our local university is definitely the best in the world , it is so competitive to get into local U such as UM , UKM , or USM especially those critical courses like medicine , even those scholars who obtain straight 5A's for STPM with band 6 fails to secure a place in local uni , this shows our local university is very competitive , even those scholars can easily secure a scholarship in NUS or NTU , which implies local uni is better than NTU or NUS , local uni rocks!!!

Besides the fact that I think this entry is particularly pointless in the absence of the said article (whether or not Mkini is worth the asked subscription fees is another matter), I would like to know the evidence behind indictments made my many on here with regards to the allegedly mediocre professors of local unis carrying out allegedly mediocre research activites that are published in allegedly mediocre journals. I would like to see hard evidence for this, whilst refraining from psychologising the accuser and speculating on their motives.

this is what i believe, no matter where u r studying, u cant expect to be spoon fed all the time. u can't possible wait for the uni to help improve your english level or teach you how to communicate well. You need to take the initiatives yourselves. Coming from a local uni, i think the opportunity to improve yourself is there, you just need to open your eyes and look for it. If you wanna see different ppl or wanna have a chance at seeing the world, there's always an exchange program wh other credible overseas university. I know a friend who was accepted to go to University of Sydney for a semester and according to him only 2 people applied for it and both of them got a place. If you wanna improve your english,then go and mix with those english-speaking ppl i met a lot in uni or take a part-time job in a call centre for instance and support yourselves to take extra english classes. you wanna be more proactive and open-minded, you can join all those multi-racial clubs or AIESEC. instead of dwelling about that uni is better than mine, just use all the resources you have to your own benefits. It is sad that sometimes the uni can do so much for the students, but they are just too lazy or ignorant to take the opportunity. I remembered there was a walk-in interview sessions in UM which i attended and there were several multinational companies there but the turned out was soo low that I felt humiliated when they asked me where are your other friends. Do not just wait for announcement to be made or a pamphlet to be handed personally to you...go and find the opportunities and your initiatives can probably help the university to improve themselves.

Hey Ice:The reason why some of our unis are so competitive to get into is because of race-based quotas -- non-Malays have to get all As for limited places in medicine. There are also not enough local unis which offer medicine so competition is tough for non-Malays. Competitive does not mean good. So get your head out of the sand and realise that our unis are low quality and getting worse.

I find it amusing about the govt's efforts to make USM a world class university. I read of the govt efforts to boost number of PhDs in the country and to attract foreign talents, but when I enquired about a short visiting stint at USM, I got no reply at all from the Dean.I am a faculty at a top tier US university and was hoping to have a short teaching/research spell at USM to experience its teaching and research environment, as well as to explore potential areas for collaboration and faculty exchange. But no word at all from the Dean.What have they got to hide?I guess the govt can say one thing but the university can say another.